Euphoria (emotion) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Euphoria (semantically opposite of dysphoria

Dysphoria

Dysphoria is medically recognized as a mental and emotional condition in which a person experiences intense feelings of depression, discontent and indifference to the world around them.Mood disorders can induce dysphoria, often with a heightened risk of suicide, especially in...

) is medically recognized as a mental

Mind

The concept of mind is understood in many different ways by many different traditions, ranging from panpsychism and animism to traditional and organized religious views, as well as secular and materialist philosophies. Most agree that minds are constituted by conscious experience and intelligent...

and emotional condition in which a person experiences intense feelings of well-being, elation, happiness, ecstasy, excitement and joy. Technically, euphoria is an affect

Affect (psychology)

Affect refers to the experience of feeling or emotion. Affect is a key part of the process of an organism's interaction with stimuli. The word also refers sometimes to affect display, which is "a facial, vocal, or gestural behavior that serves as an indicator of affect" .The affective domain...

, but the term is often colloquially used to define emotion as an intense state of transcendent happiness combined with an overwhelming sense of contentment

Contentment

"Contentment" seems realistically defined as "enjoyment of whatever may be desired". That definition is realistic because the more contented an individual or community becomes the less extreme so more acceptable their desires will be...

. It has also been defined as an "affective state of exaggerated well-being or elation."
The word derives from Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

, "power of enduring easily, fertility".

Euphoria is generally considered to be an exaggerated physical and psychological state, sometimes induced by the use of psychoactive drugs and not typically achieved during the normal course of human experience. However, some natural behaviors, such as activities resulting in orgasm

Orgasm

Orgasm is the peak of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure...

, love

Love

Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...

or the triumph of an athlete, can induce brief states of euphoria. Euphoria has also been cited during certain religious or spiritual rituals and meditation

Meditation

Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....

. Euphoria can also be the result of a psychological disorder. Such disorders include "bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...

, cyclothymic personality, head injury, and hyperthyroidism". Euphoria may also occur with "diseases affecting the nervous system, such as syphilis and multiple sclerosis".

History

The notion that "contentment and joy are states demanding a persistent and active engagement...has now largely disappeared." "With the advent of Christianity..., a more passive view of the self and its emotions has emerged", in which euphoria is defined as a "state which overwhelms the personality". William James stated that with euphoria, "the will to assert ourselves and hold our own has been displaced by a willingness to hold our mouths and be as nothing in the floods and waterspouts of God." . James offered his own explanation for this connection between euphoria and passivity, arguing that the emotion emerged only when the self gave up its struggle with the world and instead surrendered to the uprushes of the subconscious life. Euphoria is subjective in nature.

Types

Exercise-induced

Using PET scans and a mood questionnaire, a study showed that runners exhibited high levels of endorphins binding to opioid receptors within several regions of the brain, mostly frontal regions involved with positive emotions. This analysis also showed that the subjective euphoric level of an individual runner directly corresponded with the amount of endorphin activity that occurred within the brain. This study didn't prove that endorphin release is the sole cause of euphoric experience caused by exercise, but was at least a greatly contributing factor.Endorphins play a role in the reward system which can cause a chemical addiction to consistent exercise.

As a result of this, it is suggested that endurance exercise can be therapeutically utilized in benefiting the condition of those who experience depression or anxiety

Anxiety

Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...

Pharmacologically-induced

Alcohol: "Euphoria, the feeling of well-being, has been reported during the early (10–15 min) phase of alcohol consumption" (e.g., beer, wine or spirits)
Passion Flower (Passiflora incarnata) is widely used as a sedative that has calming effects on the nervous system and acts as a sleep aid. One harmala alkaloid present in this herb in the form of harmine is thought to induce meditative and euphoric effects.

Catnip Catnip contains a sedative known as epetalactone9] that activates stimulates opioid receptors. In cats it elicits sniffing, licking, chewing, head shaking, rolling, and rubbing which are indicators of pleasure. Catnip does not however, induce the same response in humans.

Cannabis Tetrahydrocannabinol
Tetrahydrocannabinol
Tetrahydrocannabinol , also known as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol , Δ1-THC , or dronabinol, is the main chemical psychoactive substance found in the cannabis plant. It was first isolated in 1964. In pure form, it is a glassy solid when cold, and becomes viscous and sticky if warmed...

, the main ingredient in this plant has sedative and euphoric properties.

Stimulants: "Psychomotor stimulants produce locomotor activity (the subject becomes hyperactive), euphoria, (often expressed by excessive talking and garrulous behaviour), and anorexia. The amphetamines are the best known drugs in this category..."

MDMA: The "euphoriant drugs such as MDMA (‘ecstasy’) and MDEA (‘eve’)" are popular amongst young adults. MDMA "users experience short-term feelings of euphoria, rushes of energy and increased tactility."

Opium: This "drug derived from the unripe seed-pods of the opium poppy...produces drowsiness and euphoria and reduces pain. Morphine and codeine are opium derivatives."

In bipolar disorder

While most people would consider euphoria to be purely benevolent, it can be problematic in individuals with bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder

who experience phases of depression and mania. In a manic episode the patient acquires a state of euphoria, sometimes causing potentially dangerous actions to occur. The use of lithium is effective in balancing his or her mood by decreasing the euphoria one will feel from manic episodes, but will not interfere with euphoria induced by morphine.

"Elation of mood, besides being less common is also harder to assess quantitatively than depression, and is difficult to distinguish from normal (in the sense of healthy) good spirits. Usually, it is only if elation or euphoria is accompanied by lack of judgment, over-activity and some disturbance of thought, that it is considered pathological."

As a symptom

Euphoria is a prominent symptom of hypoxia

Hypoxia

Hypoxia may refer to:* Hypoxia , reduced dissolved oxygen content of a body of water detrimental to aerobic organisms* Hypoxia , a pathological condition in which the body as a whole or region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply-Popular culture:* "Hypoxia" , a 2008 ambient song*...

, effectively preventing sufferers from recognizing their hypoxic state.